PODCAST

August 4th, 2011

Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the temple is a beautiful example of community intercession. Solomon’s expressed concern is for the temple to continually be a place of forgiveness and grace for a people who falter and fail. His list of the potential pitfalls for God’s people is quite specific. The good news is not our failures but God’s steadfast love that never fails.

The shift of mindset in Israel from a people who journey after God to a people who create a house of God can be seen as an attempt to contain the nature of God. Perhaps we all try to contain God in structures whether it is in “temples” we build or in the assumptions about God we make. Nevertheless, if we begin with confession as Solomon does, confession of who God is and who we are, God’s ways will be known and even present among both the travelers and the settlers among us.